Fuel efficiency is an issue that has
risen to the forefront when it comes to purchasing and operating our
vehicles. The price of fuel continues to rise and is slated to surpass
$5 per gallon soon. It is important that we
learn how to save money on gas
and make it stretch as much as possible. If you want to find out
how to save gas, there are a
number of things you can do to accomplish that.
Regardless of the size of car you need,
there are some that are much more fuel efficient. Even if you drive an
SUV, find the most fuel efficient SUV. This can save you hundreds of
dollars in a year’s time. If size isn’t a problem, you may want to go
with a smaller car. This will save a lot of money as well.
Another good option is to
buy a hybrid
car, which can save you as much as 20% on fuel. It’s good to take all
costs into consideration when buying a hybrid car. They cost more up
front due to the battery system, but if you put on a lot of miles, it
may pay for itself in the long run.
If you live in a part of the country
where there are public fueling stations, (CNG) compressed
natural gas cars are a great investment. Honda produces their Civic GX, which is a
very clean burning car and uses natural gas, which is less than half the
price of gasoline.
Does driving slower save gas?
It sure does. Most of us may not be fond
of driving below the speed limit, but if we do, we will save on gas. If
you have a lead foot, you will end up using a lot more gas. Driving fast
will increase the drag on your car and therefore increase fuel
consumption. Vehicles become inefficient when operated at the upper end
of their power spectrum.
Does cruise control save gas?
If you normally heavily accelerate from a
stop or keep speeding up and slowing down, gas mileage can be impacted.
In this situation, it may actually save gas to drive with your cruise
control on.
How To Save Gas While Driving
There actually are many ways we can save
on gasoline prices without buying a different car. These are some
practical ways you can save on gas; and you can save money at the same
time:
Believe it or not, but your driving style
can have a major impact on your gas mileage, which in turn helps out
with your pocket book. You may be surprised as to how much you save on
gas just by changing your driving habits.
Since a vehicle uses the most gas when
accelerating, if you work on that area of your driving, you should save
on gas. Rather than accelerate quickly from a stop, increase your speed
more gradually. So many drivers speed up quickly only to have to break
for slower traffic. They do this over and over, which consumes a lot
more gas. A steady speed takes less energy to maintain than slowing and
speeding up. One practical thing to do is to increase your distance from
the car you are following during highway driving. Those who drive hybrid
cars need to practice this style of driving even more. If you use your
accelerator to break rather than your brakes, it helps you actually
charge your battery pack and also saves on your brakes. Learn to
decelerate sooner, and if possible try to avoid coming to a complete
stop when coming up to a traffic light.
Using your air conditioner will create
more of a drag on your engine, cutting back on your fuel efficiency.
When you can, cut back on the use of the air conditioning, which will
also help conserve on gas. When you park, if you park in the shade, the
interior of your car won’t heat up as much. This will help eliminate the
need for as much use of the air conditioning. Another thing you can do
when parking is to crack open your windows to keep the temperature down.
When you are nearing your destination, you can turn off the air and
leave the fan on to circulate the already cooled air.
Turn your car off when you are going to
be stopped for any length of time. If you don’t need to move the vehicle
for 30 to 90 seconds, turn it off. If you are waiting at a rail-rood
crossing for a long train, you can re-start your car when you see the
last car approaching. Another time to shut off your car is while waiting
in a “fast-good” drive through line.
When on the freeway, you can get behind a
large truck which will cause a vacuum for your car which helps pull it
along.
Keeping your tires at the proper pressure
level can also give you better gas mileage, and will help your tires to
last a lot longer. Keeping your wheels aligned and wheels balanced will
also help on getting optimum mileage on a tank of gas.
Don’t let your tank get close to empty.
Keep your eyes open for lower gas prices as you are traveling. When you
are running low on gas, you have a tendency to pay more for the fuel you
buy. It doesn’t hurt to top off your tank.
Fuel Efficient Vehicles
There are also other fuel efficient
vehicles. You can now buy an all-electric car if you don’t need to
travel that far from home. It can be plugged in at night to recharge.
Solar cars can work in certain parts of the country, if the sun shines a
lot. These cars are not yet commercially produced.
As mentioned earlier, there are
CNG cars
for sale. Soon pickup trucks will be available on the market.
Within a year, there will be Ford
CNG trucks for sale. For one who wants
to convert a current vehicle to natural gas, you can buy a conversion
kit.
If you make a conscious effort, there are
a lot of ways you can learn how
to save money on gas. With such high gas prices, it makes sense for
one to learn how to save on gas.